Jussie Smollett, the homosexual actor who falsely claimed, police allege, that two Trump supporters attacked him on January 29, might have gotten the idea from a prominent black director’s claim about a cousin who suffered a “homophobic” attack.
TMZ.com reported that Smollett likely saw an Instagram post from Oscar-winning director Lee Daniels, who helped create and directs Empire, the program that made Smollett a star.
If true, the case is solved. All that remains is a guilty plea from Smollett, or a guilty verdict after trial. Smollett is charged with felony disturbing the peace in connection with fabricating the widely believed yet preposterous tale.
Police have said Smollett staged the attack because, at $65,000 to $100,000 per episode of the Fox program, he didn’t think he was paid enough. Now, apparently, we know where he got the idea.
TMZ Report
“Jussie Smollett might have gotten the idea to stage his own attack after Lee Daniels talked about his cousin getting assaulted because he’s gay … at least that’s what some members of the ‘Empire’ cast think,” TMZ reported.
Those sources told the Internet scandal sheet that “some cast members think Jussie’s gears started grinding in his head days after Lee posted a video on Instagram on January 10 calling out homophobia.”
“This past week my cousin was beat up for being gay and I am sick of hearing these stories,” Daniels wrote. “It’s the beginning of a new year and we need to do better. We need to continue to remember to love and to turn against the hate that we’re seeing out there.”
Daniels continued:
We all need to fight that fight together. For all the people who are hurting, who are struggling, and who are trying to find some meaning in this life, I am here to say if you need a safe place or a ear to listen, then I’m here. I’m listening to what you’re saying and what you’re going through. I am standing up for you and will continue to fight for you. This is my mission and message to you for the beginning of 2019.
After that post, Lee told the story on Empire’s set. “The sources now say this might have been where Jussie got the idea to take matters into his own hands … and become an LGBT hero,” TMZ reported.
Too Good To Be True
But Smollett isn’t a hero. His story was, like so many other hoaxes, just too good to be true.
Smollett claimed that two white men wearing MAGA hats beat him up and tied a noose around his neck as he returned from Subway at 2 a.m. “This is MAGA country,” they improbably said. That happened a week after Smollett received a letter containing a threat in the cut-out letters of a ransom note.
But the two white men were really two Nigerian brothers to whom Smollett paid $3,500 with a check, police allege. Police have the check in their possession and video that shows the brothers purchasing supplies to perpetrate the hoax.
Police said Smollett staged the attack, now the subject of a hilarious video produced by Comedy Central’s Daily Show, because he wanted a pay raise.
Thus does the angle involving Lee Daniels’ instagram post come into play. “Interesting,” TMZ observed, “because Lee Daniels is the guy in charge of the cash register.”
Smollett’s character will not appear in the final two episodes of the program, but even worse, he could land in prison for three years if convicted.
As well, he might face federal mail-fraud charges for sending the letter, a felony that carries a 10-year prison sentence.
This isn’t Smollett’s first time lying to police. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to “providing false information to law enforcement.”
Another Hoax
Smollett’s isn’t the only hoax of late, just the most famous, along with that of “Native American elder” Nathan Phillips, who peddled lies about his encounter with white, Catholic high-school students at the Lincoln Memorial.
The Detroit News reported this morning that a local “transgender” activist, Nikki Joly — a woman who pretends she is man — is accused of burning down her own home, an arson that killed five pets, because she was dissatisfied that her cause was not receiving the publicity it should.
In December, cops busted hate hoaxers at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland.
Photo: AP Images
